The oracle concerning Egypt.
Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt;
The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence,
And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. Isaiah 19:1
“Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them;
And I will confound their strategy,
So that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead
And to mediums and spiritists.” Isaiah 19:3
The waters from the sea will dry up,
And the river will be parched and dry. Isaiah 19:5
Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax
And the weavers of white cloth will be utterly dejected. Isaiah 19:9
There will be no work for Egypt
Which its head or tail, its palm branch or bulrush, may do. Isaiah 19:15
Egypt is under the strong hand of God’s judgment. Egypt is falling apart. There is worship of idols. No work can be found. The people are afraid.
“Egypt was famous for the linen manufacture; but that trade shall be ruined. Solomon’s merchants traded with Egypt for linen-yarn. Their country produced the best flax and the best hands to work it; but those that work in fine flax shall be confounded (v.9) , either for want of flax to work on or for want of a demand for that which they have worked or opportunity to export it. The decay of trade weakens and wastes a nation and by degrees brings it to ruin. The trade of Egypt must needs sink, for (v. 15) there shall not be any work for Egypt to be employed in; and where there is nothing to be done there is nothing to be got. There shall be a universal stop put to business, no work which either head or tail, branch or rush, may do; nothing for high or low, weak or strong, to do; no hire. Note, The flourishing of a kingdom depends much upon the industry of the people; and then things are likely to do well when all hands are at work, when the head and top-branch do not disdain to labour, and the labour of the tail and rush is not disdained. But when the learned professions are unemployed, the principal merchants have no stocks, and the handicraft tradesmen nothing to do, poverty comes upon a people as one that travaileth and as an armed man.” from Matthew Henry’s Commentary
It will become a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the LORD because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will deliver them. Thus the LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the LORD and perform it. The LORD will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the LORD, and He will respond to them and will heal them. Isaiah 19:20-22
“Out of the thick and threatening clouds of the foregoing prophecy the sun of comfort here breaks forth, and it is the sun of righteousness. Still God has mercy in store for Egypt, and he will show it, not so much by reviving their trade and replenishing their river again as by bringing the true religion among them, calling them to, and accepting them in, the worship of the one only living and true God; and these blessings of grace were much more valuable than all the blessings of nature wherewith Egypt was enriched.” from Matthew Henry’s Commentary
Father God, may I look to You for all direction in my life. I pray that Your will for me be done; that I walk in obedience to You. I do not want to stray as I did in my earlier years. I was lost. Your judgment sets upon me for my wayward ways. You forgive lovingly. I follow You this day and pray that my faith in Christ never meander nor become faint. May I not linger. I want to be with You in all ways. My woven works are only pieces of yarn put together to form a weaving for the wall, but I am Your creation, woven by Your hands into this woman that I am as of this day. You have more to do to completion. I want Your hands to weave me fully. I may show loose threads from one side, but You see the completed side and also see the whole piece as it will be when Christ comes back for me. May I be true to You that You would not need to confound or utterly deject me. My woven threads, my life, are Yours, Father. I pray in His wonderful Name. Amen.
To catch up on the previous days of this 31 day challenge, you can find them listed here.
Filed under: Devotionals, God's Word, Pondering
